Door check



JHM@ 23, 1936. E. VAN ARSDEL 2,944,865

DOOR CHECK Filed Feb. 11, 19564 Patented June 23, 1936 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

This invention relates toA means for preventing the slamming of doorsand the like upon closing, particularly when closed under the inuence ofa return spring. A primary object of the invention is to provide astructure which may be easily and quickly applied to meet the individualconditions encountered in varying sizes and Weights of doors and returnspring pulls.

A further primary object of my invention is to provide a structure Whichmay be directly applied to the door frame and then adjusted to securethe desired door closing after mounting. A still further primary objectof my invention is to provide means for controlling the rate of closingof the door within the last few inches of its travel.

These and many other objects and advantages, including the particularcombination of elements as set forth in the accompanying claims, willbecome apparent to those versed in the art in the following descriptionof one particular form of my invention as illustrated by theaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a side elevation of a structureembodying my invention as applied to a door;

Fig. 2, a bottom plan View;

Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section on an enlarged scale on the line3-3 in Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4, a detail in vertical longitudinal elevation through the checkcylinder and its support.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the severalviews in the drawing.

I provide a track I9 and mount it along the under side of the door framehead II in parallel relation with its edges. further provide a baseplate I2 which is adjustably attached to the track I9 in some suitablemanner. In the particular form herein shown, the track II] is in thegeneral shape of a T-slotted member preferably formed by rolling a stripof sheet metal into that form. The base plate I2 is mounted on the underside of the track I@ by means of one or more bolts I3 which extendthrough the plate and enter the slot in the track It to engage a nut I4in each case carried within the track. Thus by loosening the bolts I 3,the plate I 2 may be shifted along the track lil and then secured inposition by tightening the bolt.

A cylinder I5 is rockably mounted on the plate I2 on that end directedtoward the hinged side of the door I6. The cylinder I5 is mounted sothat it may swing horizontally in parallel relation with the plate I2.One particular means of mounting the cylinder I 5 is by a bracket IIwhich surrounds the cylinder I5 and is in turn pivotally engaged throughthe rivet I8 with the plate I2, Fig. 4. On the other end of the plateI2, to one side of the longitudinal center line thereof, I mount a postI9 to rockably carry thereon a lever 20. The post I9 is secured inposition to extend downwardly from the plate I2 by means of a bolt 2|passing through the plate and axially through the post I3 to have aretaining nut 22 on its lower end. The lever 20 is maintained inposition on the post I9 by means of a washer 23 carried on the bolt 2Iagainst the under side of the lever so as to retain the lever betweenthat washer and an upper shoulder 24 provided on the post. Preferablythe lever 26 is formed to turn about the post I9 rather than having thepost I9 turn about the bolt 2I. In any event, the lever 20 is mounted tobe rockable in parallel relation with the plate I2. Between the washer23 and the nut 22, I interpose a stop arm 25 which is essentially a barextending from the bolt and having an upturned end 26 in the path of thelever 20. The arm 25 may be adjustably revolved to any desired positionand there secured in fixed relation to. the plate I2 by tightening thenut 22. In the form herein shown, the lever 20 is shown to have an arm21 extending inwardly from the post I9 under the plate I2 to receive theupturned end of the piston rod 28 which extends through a guiding head29 in the cylinder I5 and carries a piston 39 on its other end withinthe cylinder. A spring 3I is interconnected between the plate I2 and thelever 20 in such manner as to tend to cause the lever to revolve aboutthe post I9 in a direction which will carry the piston 3D toward thehead 29. The limit of this rotation of the lever under the influence ofthe spring 3I is determined by the position of the arm 25. Thus bymoving the arm 25 around toward the cylinder I5, the travel of thepiston 30 toward the head 29 is not permitted to be as much as when thearm 29 is swung around in the opposite direction. The upturned nger 26of the arm 25 is in the path of the lever arm 21 to create the limitingstop. The normal position of the lever 20 when allowed toy be under thecomplete influence of the spring 2I is that indicated by the dash linesin Fig. 2 wherein the lever 20 is turned around outwardly fromunder thedoor frame head II to be in the path of the door I6 as it is movedtoward its closed position. As indicated in Fig. 2, the door I6 ishinged as at 32 and is normally pulled to its closed position by thereturn spring 33, here shown as being engaged to the door jamb 34 by oneend and to the door I6 by its other end.

When the door I6 is pulled to its open position, the lever 20 willfollow around with the opening door under the influence of the spring3|. In order to prevent damage to the door and to provide smootheraction, the outer end of the lever 29 is provided with a roller 35 whichis the door contacting part of the lever. The lever 20 through itsroller 35 will follow around with the opening door I6 until the arm 2lstrikes the nger 26 and is thereby stopped. From then on, the door I6may be carried to its fully open position entirely removed from thelever 20. When the door is released and returned to the full iniluenceof the spring 33, the door with rapid acceleration will be pulled towardits closed position and in so. doing, will cause the upper rail of thedoor in the present case to strike the roller 35 and tend to swing itaround to the solid line position as indicated in Fig. 2. In so doing,

however, the piston rod 28 carries the piston 30 back within thecylinder I5 to compress the air therewithin, thereby through the lever20 retarding the movement of the door.

The further the arm 25 is revolved around clockwise as viewed in Fig. 2,the quicker the door I6 will strike the outwardly presented roller 25and thereby effect a long travel of the piston 3o in the cylinder l5 ascompared to positions of the arm Z5 when adjusted in a counterclockwisedirection around toward the cylinder. In other words, by simply varyingthe position of the arm 25, the lengthcf stroke of the piston 30 in thecylinder l5 is determined. The shorter this stroke is, the shorter isthe period of time which the door is thereby resisted through the lever20 in its closing movement. The compression between the end of thecylinder l5 and the piston 3G is gradually relieved through a smallorice such as the hole 36 in the closed end of the cylinder as indicatedin Fig. 4.

Under many conditions, however, the adjustment of the arm 25 is notsuicient to permit full closing of the door as quickly as desiredwithout slamming. Therefore in order to provide further adjustment, theplate l2 may be adjustably positioned along the track l0 and therebyvary the position at which the roller 35 may operate on the door l. Thusby shifting the plate I2 further away from the door jamb 34 to bring theroller 3,5 out near the opening side of the door I6, greater resistanceis oiered to the closing of the doorthan where the plate l2 isadjusted'in the opposite direction by reason of the change in locationof the application of the roller 35 to the door i6 in reference to thehinged side of the door and the pull of the spring 33. By a combinationof these two'adjustments, perfect control of the door is secured topermit the door to come quickly to within a short distance of its closedposition and then permit the door to swing on closed, positively, andwithout slam or noise. The roller 35 is preferably made out of somecushion material such as rubber so as to prevent any appreciable noisebeing set up upon the impact of the vdoor IS initially thereagainst.

The plate l2 may be so shaped as to permit the post I9 to be mounted oneither side of the center line, such as passing the bolt I2 through thehole 3l, Fig. 2, where the door swings from the other side of the frame,thereby making the structure perfectly interchangeable for right andleft hand swinging doors.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in the one bestform as now known to me, it is obvious that structural changes may beemployed without departing from the spirit of the invention and I,therefore, do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond thelimitations as may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim:

1. For a door having a return pull spring, a door check comprising aVdoor frame mounting member, a plate shiftable along the member, acylinder carried by the plate, a lever rockably mounted on the plate, apiston in said cylinder interconnected with said lever, and a springnormally urging said lever toward said door overcome by said return pullspring upon closing of the door, the closing of which door is checked bytravel of said piston in said cylinder to create a resisting pressurethereby.

2. For a door having a return pull spring, a door check comprising adoor frame mounting member, a plate shiftable along the member, acylinder carried by the plate, a lever rockably mounted on the plate, apiston in said cylinder interconnected with said lever, and a springnormally urging said lever toward said door overcome by said returnpullspring upon closing of the door, the closing of which is checked bytravel of said piston in said cylinder to create a resisting pressurethereby, and means for variably positioning said lever in relation toimpact with the door in its closing travel.

3. For a door having a return pull spring, a door check comprising adoor frame mounting member, a plate shiftable along the member, acylinder carried by theplate, a lever rockably mounted on the plate, apiston in said cylinder interconnected with said lever, and a springnormally urging said lever toward said door overcome by said return pullspring upon closing of the door, the closing of which is checked bytravel of said piston in said cylinder to create a resisting pressurethereby, and means for variably positioning said lever in vrelation toimpact with the door in its closing travel, said means comprising a stopinterposed in the path of the lever limiting its travel toward the doorunder pull of said lever spring.

4. For a door, a check comprising a lever, means independent of the dooryieldingly causing the lever to follow the door through at least a partof its opening travel, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, meansinterconnecting the piston with the lever, and means varying the strokeof said piston under impact of the door against said lever.

5. For a door, a check comprising a lever. 'fi' means independent of thedoor yieldingly causing the lever to follow the door through at least apart of its opening travel, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, meansinterconnecting the piston with the lever, and means varying the strokeof `in the cylinder, means interconnecting the piston with the lever,and means for variably positioning said lever and cylinder system withrespect to the hinged side of the door.`

7. .For a door, a check comprising a lever, means independent of thedoor yieldingly causing the lever to follow the door through at leastapart of its opening travel, a cylinder, a piston 'in the cylinder,means interconnecting the piston with the lever, and means for variablypositioning said lever and cylinder system with respect to the hingedside of the door, and means varying the stroke of said piston throughtravel of said lever.

i ERNEST VAN ARSDEL.

